


Stars Fell on Alabama

by go_nuclear



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst and Feels, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gay Keith (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Lance has asthma, M/M, Major Character Injury, Vietnam War, kinda sad, klance, trigger warning for violence and ptsd/anxiety
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-09-15 01:55:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16924353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/go_nuclear/pseuds/go_nuclear
Summary: Maybe some part of Lance was selfish, wishing Keith had told the truth when he was drafted. Maybe he wanted the letters to stop because it would mean Keith was back home in his arms. Maybe Lance wished it was him in Vietnam fighting Commies rather than Keith.Maybe he just wanted the man he loved back home where he was supposed to be.And maybe Lance was afraid Keith wouldn't be the same when he did.





	Stars Fell on Alabama

**Author's Note:**

> hi this is my first klance fic *and* my first vietnam war au, so please excuse any mistakes that might appear!

_“Love is a burning thing_

_And it makes a fiery ring_

_Bound by wild desire_

_I_ _fell into a ring of fire…”_

All Lance Mcclain wanted to do was serve his country.

But he never would.

Lance shoved his hands in the pockets of his jacket as he walked home, tightly grasping the folded-up sheet of paper that sealed his fate as a homebound loser. His feet dragged as he neared the diner he and his friends frequented, his whole body heavy as he swung open the door and shuffled to their booth.

Squeezing in on the left end next to Hunk, Lance made a point to not meet anyone’s eyes lest they ask him about the outcome of his draft. Shiro was the first to speak, ever the leader and wise older figure that guided the group in these times.

“Keith and I were drafted,” He spoke, his voice solemn and edged with a twisted sort of excitement.

Lance’s head snapped up, his eyes meeting Keith’s in silent question. Keith gave the slightest of nods, the recognition of the fear they shared. He hadn’t been caught.

And Lance had.

Lance cleared his throat and mumbled something about going to the bathroom, ducking out one of the back doors into the balmy night. He stared up at the stars, remembering doing the same when the US had first entered the war in Vietnam. He’d only been seventeen then, Keith too, and they’d commiserated about their fears on Keith and Shiro’s back porch. Now Keith was leaving and Lance was outed, and the world seemed like it was damn near ready to implode upon itself.

He heard the door close behind him, Keith appearing at his side. He felt Keith’s perpetually warm hand slide into his, their fingers lacing together without hesitation. He stole a glance at Keith, trying to read the tightly closed book that was his face. He look for worry, hesitation, anxiety, _anything_ that proved Lance wasn’t alone in the feeling of unadulterated anxiety that swirled like a hurricane in his stomach.

“Did they find out?” Keith asked softly, his hand sliding out of Lance’s at the sound of footsteps exiting the front doors of the restaurant.

“They _asked_ , Keith. They asked me and I didn’t lie. I failed the physical anyway, what was I supposed to do?” Lance exhaled sharply, watching his breath plume out and cloud the stars.

He could feel Keith’s eyes boring into him, could hear him lying to the draft board when they asked, could feel his disappointment. It was their agreement, no one was supposed to know what they did or how they really felt about each other. To the naked eye they maintained a casual friendship, but behind closed doors they were lovers and the best of friends.

“Lance….” Keith said softly, moving closer to him as he took Lance’s hand in his and squeezed. As much as he wanted to be cross with Lance, he knew how embarrassing it had been to be asked if he was a homosexual. He was a master at lying about it, but Lance was a naturally truthful person, and seeing as he would already be rejected for his asthma it made sense that he would’ve given up and admitted his sexuality.

Lance pulled his hand out of Keith’s and walked back into the restaurant, not looking for his sympathy. He wished to hell that he hadn’t said anything, but in a dejected panic he’d admitted the one secret he refused to tell. He returned to his seat, faking his way through friendship until he could go back to his room and wallow properly.

He just hoped Keith wouldn’t be there too.

*

Lance had fallen asleep on the couch, the radio softly playing in the background while his chest rose and fell. Keith smiled and shook his head, pulling a blanket from the closet in the hall and laying it over Lance while he thought about how much he would miss nights like these.

But most of all he would miss Lance. As much as he wished Lance could serve with him and Shiro, he felt deep down inside of him that Lance was too….pure to be a part of something so horrific. Him on the other hand? Keith had been dealt enough bad hands in life to see just how demented and evil people really were.

Keith moved around their apartment like a ghost, his footfalls light as air to keep from waking Lance. As he catalogued every inch of the apartment, storing them in his mind to get him through the war, he remembered when he and Shiro had first rented out the apartment to Lance.

_“Him? Really? He kinda seems like a flake.” Keith looked at Lance from across the courtyard, his lunch resting on his lap._

_“_ _What are we ever going to do with the guest room? He works, he can pay rent, and anyway we need money if you’re ever gonna go to college.”_

_“How are we supposed to trust him?” Keith retorted, knowing a alarmingly low amount about the boy he’d been hanging around for most of high school._

_“_ _Do you think I’d even bring it up if I didn’t? Just give him a chance, Keith, how bad could it be?”_

Very bad, it turned out.

A few months after Lance moved in Keith began developing strong, cumbersome feelings that he tried his damndest to keep at bay. Seeing Lance asleep on the couch— _his_ couch—sent a rush through Keith that he’d never felt before. He spent months convincing himself that Lance would never reciprocate his feelings, that it was foolish for him to keep pining after the boy two doors down.

Their senior year of high school Keith made it his mission to banish his thoughts of Lance once and for all. If he couldn’t get rid of Lance, he could at least bury his feelings somewhere deep and stay in a safe friendship with him. But late one winter night, everything changed.

_“Keith? Are you awake?” Lance softly whispered from within the dark of Keith’s room. “_

_Now I am,” Keith muttered, flicking on his lamp to see Lance standing in his doorway, a blanket draped across his bare shoulders. Blessed was the shadows on Keith’s face and the blankets bunched around his crotch, concealing the blood migrating to two unfortunate places._

_“Can we...I don’t know….talk?” Lance offered, shutting the door behind him as he took a seat at Keith’s desk._

_“Aren’t we already?” Keith cursed under his breath at his cold demeanor, wondering why he defaulted to icy tones when he and Lance got too close. Self-preservation, he could guess._

_"Yeah, I guess. I just...I dunno, I’ve been thinking a lot about stuff and...Keith do you have a crush on anyone?” Lance blurted out the last part, squeezing his eyes shut and holding in a breath as he waited for Keith’s response._

_“_ _Yeah,” Keith admitted sofly, keeping his dark eyes averted in case Lance looked over._

_Lance didn’t know if he should feel relieved or terrified. He’d known Keith for years, but it wasn’t until he’d moved in with Shiro that he’d realized how damned_ attractive _Keith was. Lance had always fancied himself a ladies’ man, but Keith turned every notion about himself on its head. And now Lance was sitting in his bedroom, his eyes shut tight like a child, speculating on whether or not Keith shared in his silly crush._

_"Well, uh, who is it?” Lance said reluctantly, knowing it was a dangerous subject to talk about. God forbid Shiro heard them, or worse, if anyone found out. If this went any further…_

_Keith glanced up at Lance, met his eyes, and felt his entire world turn to ash in his hands. He loved a boy, a boy who just might love him back, and there was nothing he could do about it. It was treacherous enough for them to even look at each other this way, Keith couldn’t imagine a life with Lance without something awful tearing them apart in the end._

_L_ _ance stood and walked to Keith’s bed, his steps soft and slow. He sat on the edge of Keith’s bed, dangerously close to his unwanted advance, and took Keith’s face in his hands. His fingertips were cold, they always had been, but they felt favorable against Keith’s burning cheeks. He pulled closer to Keith, their faces only a breath away, and kissed him long and tender._

 _Keith wasn’t the type to make advances, to be bold or do anything out of the ordinary, but Lance was. Lance was tired of feeling nervous every time he saw Keith, feeling like if he just_ told _someone everything would go back to the way it was before he’d moved in. And now, as they kissed, they felt relief flow through them like sweet ambrosia._

_There was no more hiding between them, no more apprehension when their eyes met. There was only a common secret, the passion lingering in the air between them as they pulled apart._

_Lance loved Keith and Keith felt the same._

_Perhaps it wasn’t perfect, but they had each other and that was all that mattered._

Keith smiled one last time at Lance and walked back to his room, extinguishing any thoughts of longing or his approaching deployment. He would enjoy however long he had left with Lance as much as he could, and hope he came out okay in the end. 


End file.
